Winger Kyle Edwards says he’s feeling good having spent the summer recuperating from the quad injury which ended his 2021/22 season prematurely.
Edwards, 24, joined the Blues last August on a free transfer after leaving West Brom and made 14 starts and eight sub appearances, although only one game from the bench following Kieran McKenna’s appointment, before tearing his quad in training in February.
The Dudley-born wideman, who McKenna has said could also operate as a wing-back, returned to Playford Road along with the rest of his team-mates on Monday and says he is feeling the benefit of his work over the summer.
"It was good, it was short,” he told iFollow Ipswich when asked about his close season break.
"Obviously because of the injury I had to come in while everyone else was away, which wasn’t the best, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. We’re back now and I feel fitter, I feel good for it, it’s good to be back.
"It was tough because I was out for quite a while, it was a lot of hard work, a lot of gym, a lot of running but I’m back now and I feel a lot better for it.”
Edwards wasn’t the only player working on their fitness over the summer with Lee Evans having missed the end of the campaign with a knee problem, Kayden Jackson due to a hamstring injury and George Edmundson with an ankle issue.
He says having players like Evans around was a big help: "Definitely because when you’re running on your own it’s hard so to have Evo, he’s a strong runner, he was helping me along. He was running away from me a couple of times, but it’s good when you’ve got a partner, it helps get through it.”
Reflecting on the first couple of days’ training, he added: "They’ve been hard, they’ve been tough, but it’s pre-season so you’ve got to expect it. If we put the work in now obviously it’s going to help us throughout the season, so we’ve got to get through it.”
The Blues play their first pre-season friendly at Needham Market on Saturday before spending a week at Loughborough University.